Wolf’s new DEP secretary is in as health secretary to depart

The Senate on Monday confirmed Patrick McDonnell as Wolf’s secretary for environmental protection, while Wolf says his health secretary, Karen Murphy, is leaving the post.

McDonnell has run the Department of Environmental Protection for a year since his predecessor, John Quigley, resigned amid a clash with lawmakers and the natural gas industry over drilling regulations and power plant pollution.

Murphy has steered the Health Department while it writes regulations for Pennsylvania’s newly legalized medical marijuana program. Wolf says Murphy also helped improve the regulation of nursing homes and led the implementation of a prescription drug monitoring program, a key element in the administration’s fight against the heroin and prescription drug abuse.